Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is currently Netflix's most-watched movie. The 2017 film stars Charlie Hunnam is the titular character, with a supporting cast that includes Jude Law, Eric Bana, Aidan Gillen, Djimon Hounsou, Annabelle Wallis, and Tom Wu. The WB-produced film was a box-office flop, despite the high-pedigree talent involved, relegating it to the back-shelf of the 2017 movie season. It grossed just $148 million worldwide off of a budget of $175 million.
Ritchie went on to direct a number of better-received projects since, including Disney's live-action Aladdin, the ensemble action-comedy, The Gentlemen (which is getting a TV series), and the Jason Statham action-thriller, Wrath of Man. Ritchie recently wrapped Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre, another action film with Statham, Josh Hartnett, Hugh Grant, and Cary Elwes, further distancing himself from the failure of King Arthur. However, it appears that the film is finding a new life with its debut on streaming, giving it a new audience to pass judgment.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is currently the number one feature film streaming on Netflix, sitting at #10 on the most-watched list, sitting behind nine TV shows. It's a curious placement given the abysmal box-office performance of the film, and even more curious when other historically minded sword-and-sandal pics are playing on the streamer, including Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning Gladiator. Likely, the film is simply being discovered by those who passed it up in 2017, spotting familiar faces like Hunnam and Law, as well as Ritchie's name, who continues to be a prolific Hollywood mainstay. Even more likely is that word-of-mouth has spread from those that enjoyed the film, making it an easy choice when viewers click through the service to find something "new" to watch.
Hunnam went on to star in Ritchie's The Gentlemen, as well as Triple Frontier with Ben Affleck, and is now starring in a series adaptation of Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram. Law bounced back with both HBO's The New Pope and taking on the role of Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Bana starred in the series Dirty John, as well as The Orchard, while Gillan has turned out roles in Peaky Blinders, Kin, and the upcoming Mayor of Kingstown. Hounsou has continued his body of work with Captain Marvel, Shazam!, Aquaman, A Quiet Place: Part II, and will next be seen in the long-delayed The King's Man.
Whatever the reason for viewers discovering King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, it further shows that streaming isn't only a place for new content to thrive, but for older or even overlooked content to thrive as well. Earlier this year, the sci-fi film Real Steel was at the top of Netflix's chart, which was another film that didn't launch at the box office, but was a hit on streaming. Viewers are likely discovering that King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is actually a hidden gem that was way too harshly measured upon release and features all the trimmings of a Ritchie film, but set in a medieval fantasy world. Or, they're simply entertained by a big-budget film that failed to launch in theaters, but feels like a well-produced feature dug up on streaming that plays far better at home than on the big screen.
Source: Netflix